


Witness

by Davechicken



Series: Kylux - Fluff & Angst [19]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Blood and Injury, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-13
Updated: 2016-06-13
Packaged: 2018-07-14 21:53:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7192286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Davechicken/pseuds/Davechicken
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kylo receives an unexpected visitor at his door.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Witness

Few people grace the private ‘quarters’ of the Master of the Knights of Ren. Those who do tend to be there under the gravest of circumstances, anyway. 

He’s all ready to give the other person hell as the door swishes open, expecting faceless cookie-cutter cannon-fodder, not… not the General, hailed leader of the Order’s ranks. 

Hux’s normally pale skin looks paler than usual, which is unsurprising considering the waves of pain radiating off him like a sun shedding fusion from her shimmering sides. There’s an odd angle to his jaw, like he’s two people split down the middle, no longer anything like symmetrical. Kylo wonders if it’s come away at the joint, or if it’s snapped in two beneath the skin; it’s difficult to tell under all the swelling. One eye is barely open, and the skin is pulled tight and gleams with the stretch of it, the fluids beneath the surface distorting his expression and robbing him of any emotion, or any he can show the world.

Kylo can’t _see_ everything, and he can’t **feel** it all, either, because it’s one confusing mess of adrenaline and pain-response, and when he steps in to offer him support, Kylo touches his side and gets a hiss that’s half saliva, half blood bubbling past his lips. It whistles past loose teeth, and he sees the way Hux guards his ribcage with an arm that… well. That shoulder isn’t connected like it should be, and he’s dragging one leg, walking on the outside of his boot. 

“Hux… what happened?”  


“You should see the other guys.”   


Yep, there’s at least one tooth missing. Kylo sees the yawning blackness against his tongue, and he just offers himself as a mobile support, letting Hux approach him on his own terms. 

However, despite the good intentions, that simple doesn’t work. Kylo gives up after the third attempt at being passively helpful, and he snaps: “Just hold on.”

Hux doesn’t like being lifted up, but he permits it, and lets himself be taken through to Kylo’s bed. He’s placed carefully down, and he lets Kylo plump pillows around him, and his eyes drift shut.

“I’m going to call the medic–”  


A hand grabs his wrist, and one-and-a-bit eyes glare at him.

“Hux, you’re _hurt_.”  


“And you can handle it.”  


“I’m not a medic.”  


“You can _handle it_ ,” Hux insists.  


Kylo sighs. Fine. He can. “It’s not going to heal right if it’s me.”

“It will heal just fine.”  


Hux is nothing if not a stubborn asshole. It’s why Kylo loves him, after all. He slams into Hux’s head, blocking off his body for a moment as his hands - guided by the Force - snap things back into place. The sound is sickening, the crunch of bone against bone, the body resisting because of the swelling pools of blood and leaking fluids inside. He forces the joints back into position, then grabs shirts and makes as light work as he can of splinting and binding things together, so they don’t dislocate again. 

He’s lucky. He’s lucky nothing fractured, other than a minor spot on his jaw. The bruised ribs are nasty, but Kylo can’t tell if there’s really any internal bleeding. He’s good, but not _that_ good. He won’t be happy until there’s a proper scan done, and he wonders if he can steal a handheld device by feigning a fever and getting himself checked out. Maybe. Or maybe he can convince the medic to loan him one, and he can pretend it’s stolen.

Next comes cold water from the tap, which he applies to the few open abrasions, and then to the bruising. He tries to encourage his body to start draining them, but it’s _difficult_. Nothing in his training has ever touched on this, and it’s only trial and error and their… ahem. Proclivities. It’s only those things that mean he has any skill at all.

Once he’s done tending to his wounds, Kylo sits on the cold floor by the side of the bunk. Hux’s breathing is slowly returning to ‘normal’, if pained, and monitoring his flickers in the Force reassures him there’s no really drastic internal injury he’s carrying. He’ll heal, most likely. A bit more ragged than before, but he’ll heal.

“I should have been there,” he says, to the wall.  


“Don’t be foolish.”  


“No, I should have been.”  


“You can’t babysit me, you know. Besides, I told you: you should see the state of them.”  


Kylo actually wishes he could. “…are they even still alive?”

“One of them is.”  


“Have to leave someone to spread the story, huh?” Kylo wonders if it’s actually wise, or if it will get them singled out more.  


“You know mob mentality, Ren. They only understand one thing, here.”  


Power. Violence. Yes, Kylo understands that mentality well. Doesn’t mean he has to like it. 

“Don’t retaliate,” Hux says, after a long pause. “We should be fine, now.”  


“They’re cowards,” he growls. “Didn’t see them try me, did you?”  


“Not after the first day, no.”  


“I should kill everyone in here…”  


“If you do that, they’ll put you in solitary again,” Hux reminds him.  


Kylo knows. He remembers that, and remembers how the fear for Hux’s safety had turned the normally horrific punishment into **hell**. Hell exquisite. Locked away for protecting him, and now unable to carry through his sworn duty. He’d been rabid by the time they let him out, two steps away from decapitating everyone he saw who wasn’t ginger. He’d made his way straight for Hux and sworn bloody vengeance on anyone who tried to harm him again.

And now Hux lies on his cot, bloodied and bruised and beaten. Kylo’s hands claw at his own palms, and he rams his incisors into his lip. 

“I’m fine. You took care of me,” Hux reminds him. “Right now.”  


“That’s not the–”  


“Ren… _Kylo_ … if you cause problems, we will _not_ be allowed to see one another again. Do you **understand** me?”  


Kylo does. He does.

He wishes he didn’t.

“Yes.”  


He’s sure they only let them be jailed together because of his mother. He’s sure every risk assessment known to man said to split them up, but he’d begged General Leia Organa to allow him this one, last boon. Promised he’d not try to escape, not use his Force powers if she let him have one final thing.

He wonders if Hux knows he was offered house arrest.

Kylo won’t ever tell him. 

“Good. You can watch me while I sleep. I will be better after it.”  


He will, but Kylo still thinks he should have never let him get hurt at all. He’s going to try doubly hard from now on. He’s not going to let Hux get so much as a flimsi-cut.

And if people happen to drop dead around him? _No one will be able to prove he did it_.


End file.
